Use of emergency button
Prior to her brain surgery for epilepsy, Amanda was having so many
generalized seizures that the local paramedics soon became very familiar with
our address.
Epilepsy Ontario defines this state as such:
Status Epilepticus is considered a medical emergency. Immediate
medical care is required. Most seizures run their course and
end naturally on their own within seconds or a few minutes. Status
epilepticus is a seizure that lasts for 30 minutes or
longer, or when seizures repeat without recovery in between. Aug 8,
2011
Status
Epilepticus – Epilepsy Ontario
After 5 minutes of continuous seizing, it is recommended that IV
doses of emergency medications be delivered by a doctor at the hospital. As a
general rule, if the person is still actively seizing at this point, the
condition is considered status epilepticus and medical intervention is
necessary to stop the seizures.
Although Amanda’s surgery decreased the frequency of her
generalized seizures, there have still been a few. Despite the surgery, medications and VNS
therapy, when her daily seizures occur in clusters they may develop into a
generalized seizure, and for Amanda that could be dangerous or even fatal.
Safety precautions were necessary for independent living.
In preparation for training her dog how to activate an emergency
button to summon help, Amanda taught Kira to practice on a Staples “That was
easy” button.
Amanda’s brother, Xander Robar who owns and operates OnSwitch IT, built an emergency button
that Kira has now learned to activate whenever she sees that Amanda has
collapsed and requires outside help.
Amanda regularly practices pretending to go into a generalized
seizure so that Kira knows exactly what to do.
The dog recognizes the emergency and presses the button, setting off a series
of pre-recorded messages to a list of emergency contacts to let them know that
Amanda needs help. The messages will continue to cycle through the list of
contacts until someone acknowledges that they are able to help. At that point they can get to Amanda and
assist her by administering emergency medication and calling 911 if the seizure
persists.
We are so grateful to Xander for his use of technology to allow
Amanda to live an independent life.
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